The Personal Injury Blog feed

Soldiers fight for human rights in Surpreme Court

2010-03-16 00:00:00

Today the Surpreme Court, Britain's highest and final appeal court, will start considering the extent to which British soldiers on operations overseas will be able to sue the government under the Human Rights Act.

The Ministry of Defence is challenging an earlier ruling by the Court of Appeal which held that soldiers have the protection of UK law wherever they operate in the world.

The case arises from the death of Private Jason Smith, 32, of the Territorial Army, who died of heatstroke in Basra in 2003. At the inquest, in 2006, Andrew Walker, the assistant deputy coroner of Oxfordshire, said his death was caused "by a serious failure to recognise and take appropriate steps to address the difficulty that he had in adjusting to the climate".

The inquest heard that Smith had repeatedly told medical staff he was feeling unwell because of the heat sometimes over 50C before reporting sick in August 2003. The coroner said a lack of care amounted to a breach of Smith's human rights.

We fully support the Court of Appeal decision and hope that it will be upheld by the Supreme Court. Soldiers fight to defend our freedoms and when they do so, they are entitled to the full protection and support of the basic legal rights enjoyed by the rest of us.

Will Jersey Cyclists under the age of 18 be made to wear helmets whilst cycling there?

2010-03-16 00:00:00

Jerseys politicians have recently voted to draw up a law banning cyclists under the age of 18 from cycling there without a helmet. It is worth stressing that this is not yet law and has already been wrongly reported in various press as being in force. The proposed legislation has been criticised by national cycling organisation, The CTC, who lobby for the interests of cyclists.

CTC is worried that making helmet use compulsory will prevent many from getting on their bikes and they have confirmed that they intend to fight the proposed legislation every step of the way. Interestingly, compulsion for adults was considered by politicians but narrowly decided against.

I wrote a blog some months ago concerning a very controversial case considered by the High Court in England in which the Judge commented that a cyclist suffering a head injury whilst not wearing a helmet may be deemed contributorily negligent to a degree, thus having his or her compensation reduced accordingly.

My blog concentrated on the issues concerning medical research as to whether helmets actually make a difference. I also presented a lecture on the issue at a CTC conference in Manchester which allowed for healthy debate over the issue. The lecture was attended by CTC head campaigner Roger Geffen who agreed that individuals who suffer head injuries whilst not wearing helmets should seek specialist legal advice to ensure that they are not surrendering compensation unnecessarily.

The change in law in Jersey, if adopted in mainland England and Wales, would present other issues for injured cyclists. One example springs straight to my mind - what if a child were to ride without a helmet and suffer an injury? Would their parent(s) or guardians possibly be responsible for failing to ensure that the child was wearing a helmet? Would there be possible criminal charges against them?

The helmet law issue is sure to rumble on. I for one hope that it does not prevent people from getting on their bikes! It is a great means of staying fit and looking after the environment!

Laguna Vista Hotel - stomach bug illness nightmare

2010-03-10 00:00:00

Here at Pannone we receive countless reports of illness and sickness at holiday resorts around the world. The latest offending hotel is the Laguna Vista Hotel in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Holidaymakers are reporting suffering from a stomach bug which causes vomiting and diarrhoea.

The tour operators who advertise this hotel are continuing to send holidaymakers there despite these ominous reports. It is the responsibility of the tour operator to ensure that the hotels have appropriate hygiene standards. If hundreds of people are suffering with a stomach bug it suggests that these standards are not being checked.

It appears in this case, as in a lot of cases we see, that the food at the all inclusive resort may be the causative factor. People are reporting the buffet food being poorly cooked, recycled and left out in the Egyptian heat for prolonged periods.

If you have suffered from food poisoning or sickness whilst abroad, then call our specialist litigation solicitors for immediate advice.

Call our travel litigation solicitors on 0800 0384 384 during business hours and a specialist holiday accident, holiday illness or holiday sickness claim solicitor can review your compensation claim for free while you are on the phone. If you prefer you can contact us by e-mail.

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Corfu Trial update

2010-03-05 00:00:00

Many of you may remember the horrific deaths of two children killed by carbon monoxide poisoning whilst on holiday in Corfu in October 2006. As a solicitor who acts for victims of carbon monoxide poisoning I was extremely shocked and saddened by this story.

The family had booked through tour operator Thomas Cook and in yesterdays Telegraph the mother of the two children explained she felt Thomas Cook were to blame for the tragedy and should have ensured the Louis Corcyra Beach Hotel in Gouvia was a safe place for them to stay.

She was giving evidence at the second day of the trial in Corfu of Thomas Cook holiday reps Richard Carson, aged 28, and Nicola Gibson, aged 26.

They are accused of the manslaughter of the children and negligence in relation to their father and his partner, Mr and Mrs Shepherd, who were in comas for four days after the poisnoning, along with nine Greek defendants including the hotel manager. The charges carry a maximum sentence of five years' imprisonment. The paper reports the childrens mother as saying:

"I believe it was Thomas Cook's job to check the gas appliances on a regular basis in accordance with legislation,"

"We had a contract with Thomas Cook and they had a duty of care, they should have protected my children."

A British expert hired by the family is giving evidence and the paper quotes him as saying that a chimney to bring in oxygen and remove carbon monoxide had not been fitted and was lying on the floor, along with a piece of rock propping the boiler up.

A thermostat designed to cut out the boiler if it began emitting noxious fumes had been wired out to ensure it kept working an error akin to disabling a warning light to show a car's brakes were faulty, he said.

He concluded that carbon monoxide had leaked out of the boiler room and into the bungalow through holes which had been drilled through the living room wall for an air conditioning system and not filled in.

Tests he conducted to determine the levels of carbon monoxide revealed that a fatal level built up inside the bungalow within one minute.

The paper also reports that Thomas Cook has said in a statement that the incident was "unique and unforeseeable" and its employees did nothing wrong. The case has apparently been adjourned until March 11.

Lets hope whatever the outcome important lessons are learned from this tragedy so that no family has to go through what this family has over the last few years.

If you have suffered similar illness / sickness recently then we would be very interested to hear from you.

Call our travel litigation/disease solicitors on 0800 0384 384 during business hours and a specialist holiday accident, holiday illness or holiday sickness claim solicitor can review your compensation claim for free while you are on the phone. If you prefer you can contact us by e-mail.

Pannone PI Dept Wins Manchester Legal Awards!

2010-03-05 00:00:00

I am delighted to report that Pannone's Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence teams won the Award for "PI/Clin Neg Team of the Year" at last night's Manchester Legal Awards.

More than 500 people attended the awards ceremony at the Midland Hotel in Manchester.

Awards were made in 17 categories to the best legal brains in the region. An outstanding lifetime achievement award was also made to our founder, Rodger Pannone.

The ceremony was organised by the Manchester Law Society and the MEN is the official media partner. You can read more about the awards here.

Wave of cruise ship illness outbreaks rises once again

2010-03-05 00:00:00

We are currently receiving reports of a number of recent gastrointestinal illness outbreaks affecting international cruise ships.

These include a large reported illness outbreak on Holland Americas ship Maasdam, where it is understood 14 percent of all passengers have come down with a gastrointestinal illness. The ship is currently limping to the end of a 14-night Panama Canal itinerary, which began out of San Diego USA.

Royal Caribbean International has also been struggling with high number of reported gastrointestinal illness on as many as 4 of its ships, in recent weeks. At least 310 people and said to be mostly passengers, have reported suffering symptoms including diarrhoea and vomiting aboard their ship Vision of the Seas, prompting a temporary quarantine of the vessel in south eastern Brazil.

The ship left the port of Santos in Brazil last Monday for a four-day tour, with scheduled stops in several coastal resorts. Brazil is no stranger to food poisoning outbreaks on ships sailing through its waters in recent years. In January last year at a port in Salvador in north eastern Brazil, hundreds of passengers on a Swiss-owned cruise ship were also stricken with severe vomiting and diarrhoea caused by food poisoning.

If you have suffered similar illness / sickness recently then we would be very interested to hear from you. If you have suffered from food poisoning whilst abroad, then call our specialist litigation solicitors for immediate advice.

Good News for Child Protection

2010-03-03 00:00:00

I am pleased to hear that the Sex Offenders Disclosure Scheme I blogged about in March last year is to be extended nationwide.

The Home Office officially announced today that the scheme, which was being piloted by four police forces, is to be rolled out across the whole of England and Wales by March 2011.

The scheme enables a parent/carer/guardian who has concerns about and individual who has contact with their child/children to request information from the police regarding any convictions that that individual may have for child sexual offences.

The extension of this scheme is a major step forward in child protection and is something that can only help to safeguard children in our communities. The pilots were carefully monitored and the results evaluated. Despite the Home Office view that there was a relatively low number of enquires, the scheme has proved sucessful and there are several examples where children have been protected.

There are of course rules about who can apply, what information can be disclosed and whether the particular circumstances warrant disclosure, including a requirement that any information disclosed is not to be passed to anyone else.

If anyone is unsure about how the scheme operates, there is a useful piece on the BBC News website today which gives some example serarios and explains how the scheme will work in each case.